Starbucks Designed by Kengo Kuma

In a striking move away from traditional Starbucks design, architect Kengo Kuma has completed work on the Starbucks Coffee Shop in Fukuoka Prefacture, Southern Japan. The Starbucks shares a locality with a holy shrine – the Dazaifu Tenmagu – and Kuma ensures the store design acknowledges this, with a nod towards traditional carpentry. A forest of intersecting wooden blocks branch inside and out, suggesting that the store is nestled in trees, and giving off an ambience which lends itself to its surroundings.